Category: Church life

Fallow Ground

Ancient Israel was expected to observe sabbath years (every 7) and jubilee years every 50. Those years were meant to allow for the release of slaves, cancellation of debt, return of property to tribal/clan ownership and rest for the land with the fields left fallow. Whilst those laws were specific to Israel and so not… Continue reading Fallow Ground

Developing Robust Safeguarding policies

In a recent article, I wrote in defence of safeguarding policies and officers. Here I want to put forward some suggestions for how to have good, robust policies in place. First of all, I believe it is important to start from a Biblical basis.  Elders have a responsibility to provide good spiritual food for the… Continue reading Developing Robust Safeguarding policies

Learning from Steve Timmis and the Crowded House (The 31:8 Report)

I would like to draw your attention to the review that the churches safeguarding body, 31:8 carried out following the high profile accusations of bullying and abuse relating to their senior leader and Acts29 CEO Steve Timmis. News — The Crowded House   Final+Report+-+The+Crowded+House+Learning+Review+-+October+2020.pdf (squarespace.com) I think it would be helpful for any church leadership team… Continue reading Learning from Steve Timmis and the Crowded House (The 31:8 Report)

“God has been so good to us”

We sat by the bed-side and leaned in close to listen. The lady was struggling to speak and it was hard to hear but the words came out oh so clearly “God has been so good to us.”  It was hard to hold back the tears. We were visiting for a membership interview.  The older… Continue reading “God has been so good to us”

Winding back the hyperbole

Between the 4th and 6th Century AD a controversy boke out particularly among the churches in North Africa concerning a group called the Donatists. They believed that priests in the church had to be perfect in order to serve effectively. The root cause of this was to do with persecution.  Some Christians had found ways… Continue reading Winding back the hyperbole

“I think I’ve just shipwrecked the Church”

It was September 2012, we were a week or two away from moving from one Sunday morning service to two congregations and I was sat to the side in our main hall looking across the assembled church family.  Since we had confirmed the decision to make the move I had noticed a drop off in… Continue reading “I think I’ve just shipwrecked the Church”

“Who are these people?” … “These are our neighbours”

It was meant to be the year of street parties and festival.  We were celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee year. However as is often the case, plans were disrupted by a summer wash out as the heavens opened.  Some events were scaled back others cancelled. But we persisted in our organisation of a “Chapel Street Party”… Continue reading “Who are these people?” … “These are our neighbours”

Pastors get depression too

I want to share with you the results of a little survey I did via twitter. It is important to emphasise that these twitter polls don’t count as scientific surveys with appropriate proportions of people and adjustments. Therefore, the percentages are a little meaningless. So, what I’d encourage you to do is to look past… Continue reading Pastors get depression too

It’s great that the Government are asking questions about faith and religion -but are they asking the right ones?

The Government have appointed Colin Bloom as an independent faith advisor.  As part of his work, a survey has been commissioned to gather perspectives on faith, belief and religion in the UK today.  It asks a whole range of questions including some about whether we think religion has a positive impact on society or not… Continue reading It’s great that the Government are asking questions about faith and religion -but are they asking the right ones?